GPU sales strong as AMD gains market share

Market research firm Jon Peddie Research has compiled its latest round of graphics processor shipment figures, and the results paint a picture of a healthy GPU market. Shipments hit 111 million in the third quarter, up 22.5% from a year before. The market also saw growth of 17.84% between Q2 and Q3 this year, which JPR says is "the largest increase in quarter to quarter shipments in six years." In other words, the financial crisis hasn't made its mark yet, although JPR expects that shipments could stay flat in the fourth quarter.

JPR's report also includes some market share figures. AMD now has 20.6% of the overall GPU market by the research firm's count, while Nvidia holds 27.8%, and Intel has nearly half (49.4%). Those same three firms had respective 18.1%, 31.4%, and 47.3% market shares in the second quarter and 20.5%, 36.4%, and 33.4% shares in Q3 2007. Nvidia's piece of the pie sure seems to have shrunk dramatically.

Interestingly, market share numbers for the mobile market now show AMD with 20.8% and Nvidia with 21.8%, on nearly equal footing. In desktops, the two firms have 20.3% and 32.6% shares, respectively. We should however note that JPR's market share data count Intel integrated graphics as GPUs—numbers for actual discrete GPUs typically have AMD and Nvidia accounting for nearly 100% of the market, since Intel doesn't offer any graphics cards or notebook graphics modules yet.